Angiosperms: Dicotyledons

Asteraceae
Daisy Family

• Stem: perennial; 3’ to 4’ tall; unbranched; smooth.
• Leaves: more or less opposite; sessile; narrow-oval with tapering bases and long-tapering tips; 6” by 3/4” below to 3” by 5/16” above; small teeth (10 per inch) on the margins; smooth below, sparse-hairy above.
• Inflorescence: corymbiform from branching flower stalks from the stem tip and upper leaf axils; heads tightly clustered.
• Heads: purple ray and disk flowers; entire head 3/8” across; fillaries round-tipped, outer shorter than inner, some with spreading marginal hairs, purple; flowering from late July to early September.
• Fruits: “seeds” (fruits) 1/8” long with prominent ridges; plumes 1/8” long, purple; fruiting begins in early August.
• Habitat: common on moist to wet prairies and in marshes; also in open, alluvial woods.
• Bibliography from Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Vascular Plants of Iowa